Two of the three men tied to a death in Cushing in July have taken plea deals and agreed to testify against the man prosecutors say pulled the trigger.

Jason Hewett makes his first appearance in Knox County Superior Court via Zoom in July. Screenshot from Zoom hearing

Jason Hewett, 39, of Farmingdale, was charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of 45-year-old Kyle MacDougall of Waldoboro. Police believe he shot MacDougall on July 7 and that another man, Mark Gagne, later tried to burn MacDougall’s remains.

Hewett has disputed the charges for months and pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Thursday morning in Knox County Superior Court. He is being held at Two Bridges Regional Jail, unable to pay $200,000 in cash bail.

The two other suspects in the case, Mark Gagne and John Flower, pleaded guilty in September and testified against Hewett before a grand jury, which indicted Hewett on the manslaughter charge Oct. 9.

Gagne pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension, a felony, and abuse of a corpse, a misdemeanor, according to the Midcoast Villager. He was released from jail on personal recognizance bail.

Flower, who was arrested before Hewett, entered an Alford plea to a misdemeanor count of falsifying evidence, according to the Midcoast Villager. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss a felony hindering apprehension charge, the publication said, in exchange for Flower’s testimony against Hewett at any potential trial. An Alford plea means a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence to find them guilty.

Flower’s lawyer, Patrick Parson, confirmed the plea but declined to comment further Thursday out of concern that it would draw more attention to his client.

‘DIFFERENT VERSIONS’

Flower is one of several people who police have said identified Hewett as the shooter, according to a July 16 affidavit for Hewett’s arrest.

According to the affidavit, Flower told police he was in a trailer on July 7, with Hewett, Gagne and another woman, when MacDougall entered the room to buy drugs.

After some conversation, Flower told police he saw Hewett grab a shotgun, tell MacDougall to “check yourself fool” and shoot MacDougall in the neck, the affidavit states. Flower told officers that Hewett then rushed to apply towels to MacDougall’s bleeding neck, but that the man was dead almost instantly.

However, this wasn’t what Flower had initially said. In an earlier interview, Flower told police that MacDougall shot himself, according to the affidavit (which Hewett shared with the Press Herald in August despite a court order sealing it.)

Flower originally said that MacDougall had been holding a shotgun on the couch and that Flower sneaked up from behind him to scare him, and MacDougall accidentally shot himself in the neck.

Hewett told the Press Herald in August that this was a major inconsistency. He also questioned how police had ruled out another man, Harley Winchenbach, who had allegedly told someone he was the one to shoot MacDougall in Gagne’s kitchen.

It’s unclear from the affidavit how police cleared Winchenbach as a suspect. A spokesperson for the Office of the Maine Attorney General referred a reporter to the affidavit for questions on Winchenbach’s relation to the case.

Hewett’s attorney, Andrew Wright, said in court Thursday that Flower has “told at least three different versions of what’s happened.”

Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis agreed to share transcripts from the grand jury proceeding against Hewett, in which Flower testified. Those are confidential hearings, but Ellis noted the unusual nature of Hewett’s case after Wright raised the possibility that Flower’s statements might be helpful to Hewett’s defense.

Wright said there is also evidence he has yet to receive from the state, including information from Gagne’s recent drug-related arrest in October that he learned only from local news reports.

“The ability for us to mount a defense, even if there is a discovery deadline later on – it’s fundamentally unfair for my client to be sitting there, kept in the dark, without certain information, including the possibility of including grand jury testimony in the meantime,” Wright said.

Ellis said in court that he’s already sent much of what Wright has requested. Gagne’s attorney, Jeremy Pratt, said in an email Thursday that the case is unrelated to Hewett’s.